Meet Darian James

We recently connected with Darian James and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Darian with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I grew up around hardworking people my entire life. Being born and raised in the Caribbean, I was inspired by the people who had no choice but to work for what they wanted. There was no such thing as being privileged in my village. I’ve been working since I was a child. From helping my grandmother after school bake homemade goods to sell then eventually working at my family’s restaurant Victor’s New Hideout since I was 12 years old. I started out helping around the restaurant cleaning then evolved to being a server and on to a floor manager running the private events all before graduating from high school. When I left for college. I continued in the hospitality field by working at the Sheraton Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a Banquet Manager while going to college because of my previous experience at my family’s restaurant. Fast forward 25 years I am now the Director of Catering, Events and Conference Services at the Sofitel Los Angeles Hotel at Beverly Hills.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

As I mentioned, I am the proud Director of Catering and Events at the Sofitel Los Angeles Hotel at Beverly Hills. My day to day duties consists of 25+ team members, booking and managing events and conference services. Over exceeding my client’s expectations. It takes a patient, understanding person to deal with people who are rude, unrealistic, arrogant and have expectations beyond their budget but I love what I do and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I’ve learned a lot from all the different experiences I had over the years. Hardwork, being honest and learning something new every day are three of my top qualities I try to live by each day. It’s really true what they say that hard work pays off. I believe nothing good comes easy. Honesty is the best policy. I always try to tell the truth no matter how hard it might be. A wise person once told me to always surround myself with people smarter than me so I can always learn from them. I try to learn something new every day and teach someone something new every day.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

My ideal client is any client. I believe everyone has the right to have a special occasion come true. I love using all my resources to help a client in need or going above and beyond to exceed a client with no budget limit expectations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sofitel-los-angeles.com
• Instagram: @noturaverage28
• Linkedin: linkedIn,com/DarianJames

Image Credits

Guillaume JEAN Lefebvre – @picby_gjl